Product decision making when being on 🔥

Transcript

1. Piotr Durlej & Michał Krajewski, ProductCamp 2022 Product decision making when being on 🔥 What works and what doesn’t work in startups
2. Agenda 1. About us 2. People 3. You 4. Focus 5. Space 6. Frameworks
3. About us Michał Krajewski
 ~10 years of building products Head of Product @ foap.com Piotr Durlej 
 ~11 years of building products
 Head of Product @ unveel.io Working together on our podcast takbybylodobrze.pl
4. All fast-growing startups are similar • People unsure what to do • Crushing organizational debt • Product strategy in making • Real (cash fl ow) time pressure • New critical challenges daily Does it look familiar? You
5. How can you make the best possible decisions?
6. People 
 Focus on your team first
7. Marty Cagan, ProductCamp 2020 „We need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries”
8. Managing your homefront What worked for us • Your team feeling heard and motivated is the biggest leverage you can get in this job • Team is a living being, so step carefully and don’t challenge everything at once • Be present - start from regular 1on1s or check-ins, even if you have other things to take care of • As a leader with every step you are building your team culture. Thread carefully
9. With team buy-in you can do this • Re-engage your whole team in decision process, if appropriate • Your voice is the loudest, so ask for opinion fi rst and answer last • Try to agree and commit, but if no consensus was reached - disagree and still commit • Agree how you will revisit a decision I or what will need to happen to change it What worked for us
10. You 
 What is your mental state
11. Aristole „Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”
12. You will be overwhelmed with past, present and future organizational debt
13. And postponing a decision is also a decision
14. So how do you feel?
16. Fighting back your cognitive overload • Truly irreversible or black swan scenarios under your control should be your main focus • Aim to be fast & precise, not only one of them. It’s a balancing act • Think in probabilities & possible scenarios, become your product superforcaster • This is a marathon, not a sprint. You will discover just more and more things which will require your attention What worked for us
18. Not doing anything is often the best decision, or saying no is the best decision It just has to be deliberate Don’t feel ashamed
19. Focus 
 Gaining the edge to make the best decisions
20. Steve Jobs „Focusing is about saying no”
21. And focus is the most important manager resource in a startup
22. What focus means How to maintain it • You own* the Product Vision • Being focused is about saying „no” to hundred good ideas • Give yourself deadlines or critical KPIs for your assumption • Fight back ego driven management - be aware of HIPPO (highest paid person's opinion) and stakeholder in fl uence *should
23. What will kill you if you ignore it Based on our experiences • User retention • Team rotation • Cash fl ow
24. Space 
 Be ready when it will count
25. Louis Pasteur, from Sequoia „Adapting to Endure” presentation May 2022 "Chance only favors the prepared mind"
26. There will be urgent high-impact decisions you will need to make on the fly You will need to be on the top of your game then
27. How to prepare? Besides your health and wellbeing obviously! • Don’t allow yourself to have more than 50% calendar booked • Master asynchronous communications, fi nd what works for you • Book meetings with yourself, to not be disturbed • If you are not sure, come back to a decision after a good nights sleep • Fight back multitasking. Be 100% present in what you are doing • Don’t save on your work related tools. They are your leverage
28. Decision making frameworks 
 How to make decisions under 3 minutes
29. Identify the enemy, if possible Cyne fi n framework light® through Beaufort scale • ☀ Beaufort 0-3 - domain is clear. Delegate and go for best (most popular) practice. • 🌬 Beaufort 4-6 - domain is complicated. Delegate to an expert in given domain, ask for options, choose one which makes the most sense. • 💨 Beaufort 7-9 - domain is complex. Reframe expectations of stakeholders, delegate or take charge, then act, measure, learn, and repeat. • 🌊 Beaufort 10-12 - domain is chaotic. Take charge personally, act based on your instincts, and try to reframe decision.
30. When in the mess, go with WSJF’s Weighted Shortest Job First
31. The only one you care
32. Summary Deciding on a decision in 3 points 1. Assess the the class („domain”) of the problem 2. Assess the impact on product 3. Assess the category of the decision
33. Thanks! mail@takbybylodobrze.pl